On the Road to Russia
As I am writing this "Thought for the Day" it is 5:49 a.m. on 3 May 2007 in Riga, Latvia. This morning we are departing Riga for an overnight stop in Kaunas, Lithuania from where we will proceed on to Kaliningrad, Russia tomorrow. It is with great happiness that I am going to Russia. The happiness is that we now have the opportunity to spread the Krishna consciousness movement in Russia. Formerly during the communist era it was not so. Our movement was at that time completely underground and being pursued vigorously by the KGB (Soviet secret police). Our devotees at the time were being very cruelly persecuted. Some of them were tortured and some of them died as a result of this mistreatment by the Soviet authorities.
That our devotees risked their very lives to practice Krishna consciousness is a great testimony to their unflinching faith in our Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and in Lord Sri Krishna. When I met one of our devotees who had been tortured by the communists and asked her about her experience, she could not even speak about it. The memories were too painful.
Here is a picture of His Grace Sriman Sacisuta Das, who was tortured to death in prison for the crime of being Krishna conscious:
The following moving video footage is from 1988 when 25 Hare Krishna devotees were in Soviet prisons for the "heinous crime" of chanting Hare Krishna. The Hare Krishna children in Australia made an appeal to the soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to please release the Soviet Hare Krishnas:
http://www.hkussr.com/website/cg026childrenofkrishna88.wmv
That our devotees risked their very lives to practice Krishna consciousness is a great testimony to their unflinching faith in our Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and in Lord Sri Krishna. When I met one of our devotees who had been tortured by the communists and asked her about her experience, she could not even speak about it. The memories were too painful.
Here is a picture of His Grace Sriman Sacisuta Das, who was tortured to death in prison for the crime of being Krishna conscious:
The following moving video footage is from 1988 when 25 Hare Krishna devotees were in Soviet prisons for the "heinous crime" of chanting Hare Krishna. The Hare Krishna children in Australia made an appeal to the soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to please release the Soviet Hare Krishnas:
http://www.hkussr.com/website/cg026childrenofkrishna88.wmv
The following brief history how the seed of Krishna consciousness was planted on Russian soil is told by the Russian devotees:
During the eleven years of his preaching in the West, Srila Prabhupada [Founder Acarya for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON] traveled around the world fourteen times. Among other countries he also visited Soviet Russia which at that time was behind the Iron Curtain. The four days visit of Srila Prabhupada to Moscow in 1971 miraculously brought many changes to that country of atheism.
During his visit he discussed philosophy with Prof. Kotovsky, a Soviet scholar of Hinduism, but most significantly met with one young, educated Russian boy who later became his first and only initiated disciple from the Soviet Union, Ananda Shanti. This Russian boy single-handedly started preaching the eternal message of Bhagavad-Gita, and in this way the teachings of Srila Prabhupada became known to the hundreds and hundreds of Soviet people, so much so that in the beginning of the 1980's the KGB declared ISKCON one of the greatest threats to the Soviet nation. In this way, the war was declared............the war of the totalitarian state against the handful of first devotees of Krishna in Soviet Russia.
The KGB started massive persecution campaigns against the first followers of ISKCON. For their belief, around hundred of the first Russian devotees were thrown into prisons, labor camps and psychiatric hospitals. They underwent tremendous sufferings and tortures, but kept their strong, unflinching faith in Lord Krishna and His words in Bhagavad-Gita.
One of them, Sarkis Ohanjanyan was only 21 when he was put in prison. His only "guilt" was that he believed in God, chanted the Hare Krishna mahamantra and refused to eat meat. One and a half years later he died in the winter of 1986 in a labor camp out of malnutrition and tuberculosis. Before departure he was chanting on the beads made from the prison bread, and had applied tilaka on his body with the toothpaste.
Olga Kiselyova was put in prison in 1983 when she was pregnant. Her "crime" was that she helped in translating the Bhagavad-Gita into the Russian language. After undergoing tortures and long, arduous interrogations she delivered a baby girl Marika in prison who died only two months later.
Amala Bhakta Das father of 5, was sentenced for 5 years of labor camps, and was only released on the personal plea from Nancy Reagan.
These are only a few stories among many. Early devotees in Russia sacrificed their health, freedom and sometimes even life for the preaching and for the service to Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krishna devotees around the world started a campaign of protest against religious persecution in the USSR. As a result, in 1988 all Soviet Hare Krishna devotees were released by Mr. M. Gorbachev and the new era of religious freedom in Russia had begun. [end of narration]
As I reflect back on the sacrifices make these great heroes of the Krishna consciousness movement who have given me to privilege to be able to preach Krishna consciousness in Russia I simply humbly bow down at their feet in prostrated obeisances and beg them to allow me to be their humble servant for all of eternity.
Humbly waiting for your reply!
Your student,
Kishan
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
During the eleven years of his preaching in the West, Srila Prabhupada [Founder Acarya for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON] traveled around the world fourteen times. Among other countries he also visited Soviet Russia which at that time was behind the Iron Curtain. The four days visit of Srila Prabhupada to Moscow in 1971 miraculously brought many changes to that country of atheism.
During his visit he discussed philosophy with Prof. Kotovsky, a Soviet scholar of Hinduism, but most significantly met with one young, educated Russian boy who later became his first and only initiated disciple from the Soviet Union, Ananda Shanti. This Russian boy single-handedly started preaching the eternal message of Bhagavad-Gita, and in this way the teachings of Srila Prabhupada became known to the hundreds and hundreds of Soviet people, so much so that in the beginning of the 1980's the KGB declared ISKCON one of the greatest threats to the Soviet nation. In this way, the war was declared............the war of the totalitarian state against the handful of first devotees of Krishna in Soviet Russia.
The KGB started massive persecution campaigns against the first followers of ISKCON. For their belief, around hundred of the first Russian devotees were thrown into prisons, labor camps and psychiatric hospitals. They underwent tremendous sufferings and tortures, but kept their strong, unflinching faith in Lord Krishna and His words in Bhagavad-Gita.
One of them, Sarkis Ohanjanyan was only 21 when he was put in prison. His only "guilt" was that he believed in God, chanted the Hare Krishna mahamantra and refused to eat meat. One and a half years later he died in the winter of 1986 in a labor camp out of malnutrition and tuberculosis. Before departure he was chanting on the beads made from the prison bread, and had applied tilaka on his body with the toothpaste.
Olga Kiselyova was put in prison in 1983 when she was pregnant. Her "crime" was that she helped in translating the Bhagavad-Gita into the Russian language. After undergoing tortures and long, arduous interrogations she delivered a baby girl Marika in prison who died only two months later.
Amala Bhakta Das father of 5, was sentenced for 5 years of labor camps, and was only released on the personal plea from Nancy Reagan.
These are only a few stories among many. Early devotees in Russia sacrificed their health, freedom and sometimes even life for the preaching and for the service to Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krishna devotees around the world started a campaign of protest against religious persecution in the USSR. As a result, in 1988 all Soviet Hare Krishna devotees were released by Mr. M. Gorbachev and the new era of religious freedom in Russia had begun. [end of narration]
As I reflect back on the sacrifices make these great heroes of the Krishna consciousness movement who have given me to privilege to be able to preach Krishna consciousness in Russia I simply humbly bow down at their feet in prostrated obeisances and beg them to allow me to be their humble servant for all of eternity.
Answers According to the Vedic Version
Question: What is the Mirror of the Mind?...
What is the meaning of Mirror of Mind?Humbly waiting for your reply!
Your student,
Kishan
Answer: Your Consciousness...
Mirror of mind refers to your consciousness. At the present moment in our conditioned state of consciousness the mirror of the mind is covered with many, many layers of dust accumulated over many, many millions of lifetimes. The process of freeing the mirror of the mind from the dust is to regularly chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra as much as possible every day:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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